On the left is the Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate and on the correct the ROG Phone 5.
Sarah Tew/CNET
From the entrance, when the telephone is powered off, there is not a lot to note concerning the new Asus ROG Phone 5. But on the again, when its brand lights as much as distinction its black dot-matrix sample end with sizzling pink ’80s punk rock highlights, you may’t assist however take discover. Seriously, you simply must play some Blondie or Talking Heads to finish the impact.The ROG Phone 5 is a fourth-gen gaming telephone. ROG stands for the Republic of Gamers. And this yr, Asus knocked it out of the park. This is not a significant redesign however somewhat a spherical of serious tweaks that make this telephone one other step nearer to an “ideal” that Asus has been chasing since 2018. Every enchancment from the Gorilla Glass Victus on the display and up to date audio system to relocating cooling parts to the center of the telephone are accomplished with the aim of creating the last word gaming telephone.
LikeWonderful battery life144Hz displayNumerous controls for charging and efficiencyUltimate version with ROG Vision show
Don’t LikeWeight: It’s a heavy telephoneCameras do not stay as much as the remainder of the phoneUS value is unknown, so it is not clear if the telephone is price it
Perhaps the largest change this yr is that there are three new ROG telephones as an alternative of only one. There’s the common ROG Phone 5 with the ’80s punk vibe. Then there’s the ROG Phone 5 Pro that comes with a removable fan referred to as the AeroActive Cooler 5. And as an alternative of a brand that lights up, the Pro has the ROG Vision show which is a mini shade show strip on the again to indicate off graphics. It can show alerts and animations for incoming calls, when the battery is charging and extra. In reality, you may even make your individual customized graphics for the again show. It’s an absolute blast to make use of and my interior 9-year-old approves.
Discover the most recent information and finest opinions in smartphones and carriers from CNET’s cell specialists.
The third mannequin is the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate. It has a matte white again adorned with black hairlines and neon blue accents, all of which stole my coronary heart as quickly as I laid eyes on it. Like the Pro, there is a again show strip, but it surely’s black and white. The Ultimate additionally comes with an AeroActive Cooler 5 however what actually makes it the “ultimate phone” is the 18GB of RAM on the within. My new work laptop computer solely has 16. When you add in a 2.84GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and a beefy GPU to all that RAM, you get probably the most highly effective Android telephone we have ever examined. You can see our efficiency take a look at outcomes on the backside of the assessment.Asus ROG Phone 5 fashions
Phone
Price
RAM
Storage
AeroActive Cooler 5
Lighting
Asus ROG Phone 5
799 euros
8GB
128GB
None
RGB brand
Asus ROG Phone 5
899 euros
12GB
256GB
None
RGB brand
Asus ROG Phone 5
999 euros
16GB
256GB
None
RGB brand
Asus ROG Phone 5 Pro
1,099 euros
16GB
512GB
Included
Vision show shade
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
1,299 euros
18GB
512GB
Included
Vision show black and white
What do you do you probably have a strong gaming telephone to assessment? You sport. I performed driving video games, warfare video games, problem-solving video games, zombie video games, vertical video games and a bizarre silent film sport. Sometimes I performed video games with the fan connected and different instances I used the nifty Kunai 3 Gamepad accent, which Asus sells individually.
Now enjoying:
Watch this:
Review: Asus ranges up with new ROG Phone 5
9:26
144Hz display and the longest battery life we testedDuring all this gaming a number of issues stood out. The display is wonderful. You can set its refresh fee up as 144Hz, however I discovered that the auto refresh fee labored finest because it did not kill the battery as shortly. Also, this assessment comes out simply weeks forward of the launch of the RedMagic 6 gaming telephone with a 165Hz display.Battery life on the Asus ROG Phone 5 is unimaginable. It has a 6,000-mAh capability and it’s made up of two 3,000-mAh batteries. This design means you may quick cost it with a 65-watt charger. After a day of regular use, I normally had about 40% of the battery left.
Battery assessments on the ROG Phone 5 for steady video playback on Airplane mode clocked a mean of 20 hours, 15 minutes and that was with the display locked in at 120Hz. With the display refresh fee set to auto, it averaged a time of 28 hours, 4 minutes. The longest time for any telephone we examined this yr and the second longest time for any telephone previously few years (simply behind the LG V60).The ROG Phone 5 brilliantly helps you to management the battery and handful of various methods. You can set limits for a way a lot of the battery costs, select sluggish charging speeds and even schedule when it costs. One of the cooler options is one thing we additionally noticed final yr on the Sony Xperia 5 II. If you are gaming and plugged into energy, the ROG Phone 5 will run on energy from the cable as an alternative of charging the battery. This prevents the telephone from getting hotter which may have an effect on gaming efficiency.
ROG Phone 5 has much more contact sport controlsThere are so some ways to regulate and work together with the video games you play. AirTriggers, that are contact sensors situated on the edges of the telephone, are even simpler to make use of this yr as a result of they’re bigger and go edge-to-edge. If you are utilizing the Pro or Ultimate model, there’s an additional sensor on the again for enter. Add the AeroActive Cooler 5 to the telephone, and also you get the addition of two mini paddle buttons. That mentioned, I observed numerous cell video games have simplistic controls. But I think about having extra choices for sport management mapping will enchantment to people who find themselves into esports.The AeroActive Cooler 5 has two mini paddle buttons you may map for video games.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The ROG Phone 5 is heavy and cameras are mediocreBut it is not all enjoyable and video games with the Asus ROG Phone 5. There are some drawbacks. The ROG telephone 5 is heavy. It weighs greater than the iPhone 12 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and final yr’s ROG Phone 3. The ROG Phone 5 is the heaviest telephone I’ve ever examined. And after an extended bout of gaming, you are feeling that weight. Even extra so if you add a case or a fan or the gamepad accent.I do know this can be a gaming telephone however I do want the cameras had been higher. On the again, there is a primary 64-megapixel digicam that makes use of pixel binning to enhance picture brightness and cut back noise. There’s a 13-megapixel ultrawide digicam and a 5-megapixel macro digicam. The primary digicam takes some first rate images in shiny gentle. But if you get into dimmer conditions like indoors the picture high quality suffers. If it is darkish, the telephone robotically goes into an evening mode that produces mediocre outcomes. Below are three of the higher images I took with the ROG Phone 5.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Patrick Holland/CNET
Patrick Holland/CNET
Patrick Holland/CNET
Patrick Holland/CNET
The ROG is able to taking pictures as much as 8K decision at 30 frames per second, however the story was the identical as images. Take a take a look at the video under of video I shot with the ROG Phone 5. I want Asus took benefit of all the ability it has from the processor, RAM and GPU to assist the ROG telephones take higher images.
There is not a US value for the ROG Phone 5 yetAnother draw back is there’s no water- or dust-resistance. For the value, it looks like there ought to be. And in case you’re questioning about that value, that makes two of us. At this time, US pricing hasn’t been introduced. If we go by European pricing and convert to US {dollars}, a baseline ROG Phone 5 could be $950 and the ROG Phone Ultimate would value $1,540. (See the chart under for the total breakdown of worldwide conversions.) Be cautious with these conversions, although. They most likely aren’t the precise US costs — European costs embody tax — so it is exhausting to place a worth on these telephones. If the baseline ROG Phone 5 was $700 and even $800, it will be a superb worth. And if the Ultimate was $1,200, I’d don’t have any drawback recommending it to somebody on the lookout for a gaming telephone. But till these costs are introduced, who is aware of. For that purpose, I’m holding off on scoring this assessment till US costs are introduced.3DMARK SLINGSHOT UNLIMITED
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
GEEKBENCH V.5.0 SINGLE-CORE
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
GEEKBENCH V.5.0 MULTICORE
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Asus ROG Phone 5 specs vs. Asus ROG Phone 5 Pro, Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Asus ROG Phone 5
Asus ROG Phone 5 Pro
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Display dimension, decision
6.78-inch AMOLED, 2,448×1,080, 144Hz refresh fee, HDR10 Plus, 300Hz contact fee
6.78-inch AMOLED, 2,448×1,080, 144Hz refresh fee, HDR10 Plus, 300Hz contact fee
6.78-inch AMOLED, 2,448×1,080, 144Hz refresh fee, HDR10 Plus, 300Hz contact fee
6.8-inch AMOLED 2x, 3,200×1,440 pixels
Pixel density
395 ppi
395 ppi
395 ppi
515 ppi
Dimensions (Inches)
6.09×2.72×0.36 in
6.09×2.72×0.36 in
6.09×2.72×0.36 in
2.97×6.5×0.35 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)
172.8×77.2×10.29 mm
172.8×77.2×10.29 mm
172.8×77.2×10.29 mm
75.6×165.1×8.9mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)
8.57 oz; 243g
8.57 oz; 243g
8.57 oz; 243g
8.07 oz; 229g
Mobile software program
Android 11
Android 11
Android 11
Android 11
Camera
64-megapixel (broad), 13-megapixel (ultra-wide), 5-megapixel (macro)
64-megapixel (broad), 13-megapixel (ultra-wide), 5-megapixel (macro)
64-megapixel (broad), 13-megapixel (ultra-wide), 5-megapixel (macro)
108-megapixel (broad), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 10-megapixel (10x telephoto)
Front-facing digicam
24-megapixel
24-megapixel
24-megapixel
40-megapixel
Video seize
8K
8K
8K
8K
Processor
2.84GHz Snapdragon 888 5G
2.84GHz Snapdragon 888 5G
2.84GHz Snapdragon 888 5G
2.84GHz Snapdragon 888 5G
Storage
128GB, 256GB UFS3.1
512GB UFS3.1
512GB UFS3.1
128GB/256GB, 512GB
RAM
8GB, 12GB, 16GB
16GB
18GB
12GB, 16GB
Expandable storage
None
None
None
None
Battery
6,000 mAh (2x 3,000 mAh)
6,000 mAh (2x 3,000 mAh)
6,000 mAh (2x 3,000 mAh)
5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
Headphone jack
Yes
Yes
Yes
None
Special options
5G-enabled, 65W fast charging, ROG brand, Wi-Fi 6E, Dual-SIM, Comes with case
5G-enabled, 65W fast charging, ROG Color Vision show, Wi-Fi 6E, Dual-SIM, Comes with case and AeroActive Cooler 5
5G-enabled, 65W fast charging, ROG Black and White Vision show, Wi-Fi 6E, Dual-SIM, Comes with case and AeroActive Cooler 5
IP68 ranking, 5G-enabled, 100x Space Zoom, 10W wi-fi charging, 10x optical zoom
Price off-contract (USD)
TBA, however European costs convert to $950 (8GB RAM, 128GB storage), $1,065 (12GB RAM, 256GB storage), $1,185 (16GB RAM, 256GB storage)
TBA, however European value converts to $1,420 (16GB RAM, 512GB storage)
TBA, however European value converts to $1,540 (18GB RAM, 512GB storage)
$1,200 (128GB)
Price (GBP)
TBA, however European costs convert to £685 (8GB RAM, 128GB storage), £770 (12GB RAM, 256GB storage), £855 (16GB RAM, 256GB storage)
TBA, however European value converts to £1,025 (16GB RAM, 512GB storage)
TBA, however European value converts to £1,110 (18GB RAM, 512GB storage)
£1,329
Price (AUD)
TBA, however European costs convert to AU$1,235 (8GB RAM, 128GB storage), AU$1,390 (12GB RAM, 256GB storage), AU$1,540 (16GB RAM, 256GB storage)
TBA, however European value converts to AU$1,850 (16GB RAM, 512GB storage)
TBA, however European value converts to AU$2,000 (18GB RAM, 512GB storage)
AU$1,849